UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Mar 15, 2013

There is widespread agreement that dealing with the abuse scandal needs to be a top priority for Pope Francis. And so far as I can tell, Pope Francis has never done or said anything about a particular case or the situation in general that has received public notice. Astonishingly enough, he seems to be a virtual tabula rasa when it comes to the biggest crisis to hit the Catholic Church since the Reformation.

The explanation may have to do with the fact that the scandal has touched Argentina very little. The only case of note occurred in 2002 when Archbishop Edgardo Storni of Santa Fe resigned after a book accused him of abusing at least 47 young seminarians. (The Vatican had investigated Storni in 1994 and found insufficient evidence to discipline him.) An Argentine writer talked with then Archbishop…